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Studying Art Abroad, 



HOW TO DO IT CHEAPLY. 



BY 

MAY ALCOTT NIERIKER. 






J../14J 

?, 1879. ^ 



BOSTON. 

ROBERTS BROTHERS. 
1879 



MOXONIHSVM 

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Copyright 1S79, 
BY ROBERTS BROTHERS. 



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PRINTED BY 
ALFRED MUDGE AND SON. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

En Route 5 



CHAPTER II. 
London *9 

CHAPTER III. 
Clothes, Shops, and Addresses 35 

CHAPTER IV. 
Paris 4 2 

CHAPTER V. 
Rome 



Studying Art Abroad. 



CHAPTER I 

* EN ROUTE. 

Art is so over-talked and over-written at the 
present time (charmingly, to be sure, but still 
overdone), that, even were a student's opinion on 
the subject of any value, I have no intention of 
adding my name to the list of those who, from 
critics like Ruskin and Hamerton down to the 
multitude of newspaper correspondents, keep 
America en courant with European painters, pic- 
tures, and gossip. 

But none of these writers report the actual cost 
of living, instruction, or rent of studio abroad ; or 
how one in search of such can most easily and 
economically obtain them, in order to realize the 
desire of one's heart. Therefore, having had some 
experience of art studies in London, Paris, and 
Rome, I propose putting into readable form, facts 
and figures which may help another to overcome 



STCDY/XG ART ABROAD. 



certain difficulties attending a first trip, and the 
most direct attainment of the desired end. 

Now that Boston, New York, and Philadelphia 
have their Fine Art Museums and life classes, 
there is no longer the same necessity for crossing 
the Atlantic for an education that existed some 
years ago. But while the feeling prevails that 
there is no art world like Paris, no painters like 
the French, and no incentive to good work equal to 
that found in a Parisian atelier, many will con- 
tinue to seek in France what, in their estimation, 
cannot be found in America. To such, especially 
if women, a few notes, suggestions, and addresses 
will prove useful in simplifying the modus ope- 
randi of settling in a foreign city. 

Let me impress upon them at the outset the 
importance of considering well what is one's par- 
ticular taste or talent, aim or ambition, and to 
have a definite notion before starting of what one 
wants to learn, so as to insure the greatest 
amount of profit and enjoyment in a given time. 
For I am supposing our particular artist to be no 
gay tourist, doing Europe according to guide-books, 
with perhaps a few lessons, here and there, taken 
only for the name of having been the pupil of 
some distinguished master, but a thoroughly ear- 



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STUDYING ART ABROAD. 



Just as naturally will one who seeks instruction 
in water-color figures and landscapes turn toward 
London, though the Roman painters possess a 
fine, strong style in the former subject which can- 
not be overlooked. However, as every one knows, 
England's art speciality is water-colors, of which 
the summer exhibitions give sufficient proof. 

Also china painting and decorative art in gen- 
eral flourish in the big city which is acknowledged 
the great picture-market of the world, and this last 
fact may be of some importance to an artist if re- 
duced to making pot-boilers, as the saying, " Live 
in Paris, but sell in London," was long ago adopted 
by painters of all nations. 

Let us conclude, then, that each of the foregoing 
considerations has been well thought of, and after 
due deliberation and all possible study accom- 
plished before starting, that our lady artist decides 
on a year abroad, and begins preparations in good 
earnest. 

She proceeds to select a large, light trunk, one 
of French manufacture if possible ; for those of 
American make are very heavy and not proportion- 
ately strong, and as every pound in weight is an 
added item of expense in travelling, this becomes 
a subject worthy some consideration Then pack- 



EN ROUTE. 



ing closely, rolling and pinning every article that 
can be rolled and pinned, puts in plenty of old un- 
derclothes and but few dresses, a strong travelling 
suit and a black silk being the only important cos- 
tumes. I say old underclothes, because the grime 
of London and the acid used by all Parisian blan- 
chisseuses soon rot and spoil anything delicate 
or nicely trimmed, and as the old things become 
too thin for use, but invaluable as paint-rags '(which 
artists so often have to buy), they are easily replaced 
by ready-made strong ones at small expense. 

If the trunk is too high for sliding under the 
berth of the state-room, and our artist is sufficiently 
sensible to prefer going in light marching order 
on all occasions, she can take only a commodious 
hand-bag and shawl-strap, letting the trunk go 
below in the hold. The first-named should contain 
the necessary changes of linen, paper collars and 
cuffs (if she is not too proud to wear such), which, 
like Japanese handkerchiefs, do not require wash- 
ing, a dressing-case of toilet articles to hang up and 
sway with the motion of the vessel, gloves, veils, 
and little things, while into the shawl-strap should 
be rolled a thick wrap, water-proof, flannel gown, 
books to read on the passage, and overflowings from 
the bag. 



10 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

This comprises all that is strictly needed for a 
voyage of twelve days across the Atlantic, though' 
the addition of fruit or a supply of preserved ginger 
to be eaten in the watches of the night will be 
found a refreshing luxury, not always to be obtained 
on board. 

If not the possessor of a steamer chair, I should 
advise not buying one on the American side, where 
the cost is from ten dollars upwards, and being by no 
means indispensable, any one economically inclined 
will defer purchasing until the return trip, when 
very pretty folding chairs of dark wood, suitable 
even for parlor use afterward, can be procured from 
Tottenham Court Road furnishing shops, London, 
or in Liverpool, on going to the steamer, at the low 
price of ten to fifteen shillings. 

Everything, then, being ready, our artist takes 
passage on a " Cunarder," if she prefers safety, or 
requires the protecting care of a gallant English 
captain ; but if economy is an object she will try the 
" Anchor," " National," or " Guion Line," where a 
deck state-room, for $60, will be found most airy 
and comfortable, and, accepting what letters and 
addresses are offered her, push bravely off, to begin 
her art studies in the Old World. 

Supposing, then, water-colors to be her aim and 



EN ROUTE. II 



London her destination, she arrives at the Liver- 
pool wharf, perhaps at night, and decides to save 
hotel bills by remaining on board the boat until 
morning ; but if eager to leave the narrow quarters, 
where possibly she has known much misery during 
the voyage, she drives either to the hotel at the 
Lime Street Station, to go directly through to the 
metropolis, or, as I should suggest, to the Great 
Western Hotel, which is at the terminus of the rail- 
road, by which she leaves the next morning for 
Chester, as the first stopping-place of a most 
interesting detour, including Stratford, Warwick, 
Kenilworth, and Leamington. If she has from two 
to three pounds in money to spare, and decides to 
make this little trip, she will, before leaving the 
hotel, repack the bag, and if possible put the con- 
tents of the shawl-strap into the trunk (which, left 
in care of the baggage-master, in return for a few 
pence and the receipt, will be forwarded to any 
London address on her writing for it), and start, 
with art materials prepared and bag in hand, but 
otherwise unencumbered with luggage, for historical 
ground. 

In tnus accomplishing the distance between 
Liverpool and London, one includes perhaps the 



12 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

greatest number of places of interest, as well as 
fine subjects for an artist's pencil as can be found 
in any circuit of England ; and three days with two 
nights enjoyed en route need cost but little and 
be found truly delightful. 

Of course this limited time admits only of a 
broad, rapid manner of sketching, which, however, 
often results profitably, most of the subjects being 
of a particularly salable description, and even rough 
suggestive bits in color proving interesting to 
those persons who have never visited the spots. 

But our artist could be very busy and happy in 
these little towns for any length of time, although, 
as this whole district is so much travelled and 
familiar to all, it will only be necessary to note 
here a few items not found in any guide-book. 

Arriving, then, at Chester, one takes the omnibus 
from the station for " The Blossoms," a little inn just 
outside the old walls of the town and in dangerous 
proximity for the lover of bric-a-brac to many shops 
which, among other attractions, contain fine old 
chests and chairs in carved black oak, to be bought 
for half the cost demanded in London or Paris for 
the same articles. And these the venders will 
forward, without extra charge, to any address on 
the island. 



EN ROUTE. 13 



Every painter knows the value of this antique 
furniture, and how indispensable is an imposing 
arm-chair in which to place the sitter to advantage 
for a portrait, though the striking griffins or 
scroll ornamentation of such become monotonous 
if too often repeated in pictures, particularly when 
many studies by the same hand are collected 
together, — this being very noticeable of a certain 
rich gilded chair, the top of which appeared above 
the shoulder of hundreds of sitters, from that of 
the late Pope of Rome to Bismarck and plain Miss 
A., simply because from familiarity the painter 
could accomplish such details quickly and effec- 
tively with a few strokes. 

After enjoying the fine views from the old walls 
and ivy-hung towers of Chester, one finds much 
that is interesting along its quaint streets, lined 
with picturesque houses, here and there displaying 
a facade richly and elaborately carved, well worth 
some hours spent in ca r eful work with pencil or 
brush before leaving for Stratford. Here, after tak- 
ing a room at the " Shakespeare Arms," one strolls 
to the other side of the river, which is the most 
advantageous spot for booking the gray stone church 
amid the great trees on the water's edge, so famous 
for containing the poet's bones. Then following 



14 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

the pretty paths, leading through stiles and across 
green meadows, one finds Anne Hathaway' s cottage, 
with its mossy, sloping roof, and delights in attack- 
ing so charming a subject at once, not forgetting to 
secure a line descriptive of the " Courting Settle," 
as it is called, near the great chimney of the interior. 
But the latter must be caught surreptitiously, as well 
as a sketch of the boy's desk shown at the poet's 
house, this liberty not being allowed a visitor, though 
money has been known to make the guardian tem- 
porarily blind to such an innovation of the rules. 
Next on the main route, from which one deviates 
slightly to reach Stratford, comes Warwick, and 
here life can be made truly ideal by boarding at the 
baker's for an absurdly low price, instead of follow- 
ing all the world to the "Warwick Arms." From 
this humble abode, each morning sees our artist, at 
an early hour, starting, with color-box in hand, to 
wander about the little town or to spend the day in 
the ruined castle of Kenilworth. 

From the fine, long windows, over which the 
vines festoon themselves in graceful curves, and the 
crumbling walls with winding stairs marked " Dan- 
gerous Climbing" (immediately prompting one to 
mount, regardless of risk,) to the great round tower 
of warm-toned stone-work, all form charming bits 



EN ROUTE. 15 



for the sketch-book. There is a perfect quiet, even 
solemnity, pervading the place, which is most con- 
ducive to good work, and keeps one's thoughts con- 
stantly busy with the events of the past, seeing Amy 
Robsart escaping by the little postern gate, as she 
fled only to meet her death at Cumnor Hall, or Eliz- 
abeth amid her brilliant train, Leicester at her side, 
riding forth with hawk and hound, under the shadow 
of the great arch, to scour the beautiful country of 
Warwickshire. 

I think no one will consider time spent at Kenil- 
worth as wasted, for though by no means the most 
picturesque ruin in England, some of the abbeys 
and cathedrals being infinitely finer, yet here there 
is a certain indescribable charm which forcibly 
attracts and detains -the visitor. 

Many people think to have seen Warwick 
thoroughly without ever finding Leicester Hospital, 
which is an interesting charity, founded by the 
renowned earl, for twelve old men ; and it is most 
amusing to be shown the twelve little rooms, with 
their twelve beds, twelve coal-bins, twelve plates, 
and even twelve coffee-pots steaming away on the 
kitchen stove, round which are placed twelve ar m- 
chairs, suggesting a pleasant picture of twelve old 
men sitting comfortably smoking their twelve clay 
pipes. 



l6 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

A fine chapel and quaint minister's .house adjo n 
the main building with its many-gabled roof, and 
when after a hard day of painting, sitting in the 
court-yard, I had the good fortune to be invited by 
the clergyman to see the interior of his home, .which 
is very ancient, I took advantage of the occasion to 
ask why the present earl did not found a like com- 
fortable home for twelve old women. 

If an artist lingers here late enough into Septem- 
ber, what is called the " Runaway Mop" may afford 
much that is novel ; for at this time, servants in 
search of places and masters in search of servants 
meet to form new engagements for the coming 
year ; and this is made the occasion for reviving 
many old customs quite obsolete elsewhere. A 
whole ox is roasted over an immense fire in the 
market-place, and one has but to demand a six- 
penny or shilling plate to receive a deliciously 
juicy slice of tender beef, which, eaten under the 
great trees, amid the amusing scenes p issing around, 
has a peculiar relish. 

This festival unfortunately, however, is apt to fall 
upon St. Swetchin's week, which is thought, in that 
part of the country, never to fail of bringing much 
rain ; and certainly it would be niost disastrous to 
a sketching expedition, unless our artist, like Mr. 



EN ROUTE. 17 



Hamerton, possesses a tent containing glass win- 
dows, through which, undisturbed by the elements, 
all effects, in rainy as well as fair weather, may be 
transmitted to paper or canvas. 

Leamington, after reading Hawthorne's charming 
descriptions of his walks and pleasant life in the 
town, cannot be entirely overlooked, though the 
waters make it rather too fashionable a resort in 
the season for one of quiet tastes. Even if the 
pretty river Leam, with its arched bridges, prove 
attractive, the place, as a whole, will not be found 
so convenient for excursions as Warwick, which is 
more central. This I discovered on my second visit, 
and proved still further on a third, so I mention it 
for the benefit of any party wanting to accomplish 
much art work in a limited time, by bringing away 
many pleasing reminders of this not only eminently 
historical, but charmingly picturesque district. 

With a last chime from Warwick bells ringing in 
the ears, an artist regretfully takes the train for 
smoky London, and passing Oxford with its many 
steeples, after a look at Windsor Castle, at length 
enters the great Paddington Station, or, by mak- 
ing a change at Rugby, steams into Euston Station, 
which is much nearer the West Centre, and saves 
one a long cab drive. 



IS STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

On a trip like this, a lady can very properly 
travel second, or even third class, during the sum- 
mer, finding the latter carriages much cooler and 
better ventilated than the stuffy ones of the first, 
though the seats are entirely without cushions, and 
on a long journey by an express train apt to be 
crowded, and this makes the difference in price of 
tickets very great. 

The railroad regulations and order in Europe are 
so complete that an unprotected woman has no 
trouble in getting on, as she finds herself the espe- 
cial charge of the officials, until handed to a cab by 
a civil porter, with her much-belabelled luggage 
safely piled on the roof. 



LONDON. 19 



CHAPTER II. 



LONDON. 



Perhaps our traveller has had the forethought to 
mail at Oueenstown a letter to the hostess of some 
desirable address, and so on reaching the city, and 
slipping fourpence into a porter's hand to see any 
luggage put aboard a cab, pays a shilling fare, with 
two pence extra for a trunk, and reaches the des- 
tination at once. 

But the distances in London are so very great, 
that one must consider well how to be near the 
chosen work or master, before settling for any 
length of time. 

If the Kensington Museum or Art School is not 
the desired object, it has been the. experience of 
many that the West Centre was a central, respec- 
table, and cheap quarter for an artist. It is full of 
boarding-houses, which, however, be it remembered, 
are seldom, in England, as comfortable, clean, and 



20 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

well furnished as in America ; yet by search, a 
large, desirable room can be found with full board 
for thirty shillings ($6.00) a week, or a smaller room 
for less. 

During the season, from May to August, prices 
are all much higher than for the rest of the year, 
and houses very full, so it becomes difficult to obtain 
immediately what one wishes, for little money. 

A plan, however, often resorted to by students 
and found to be most economical, is to hire two 
furnished rooms, perhaps a large one on the first 
♦floor to serve as studio or parlor, with a smaller one 
above for sleeping, the two costing eighteen shil- 
lings per week, I will say, and the lady of the house 
providing meals as one orders them at a very rea- 
sonable price, including service. 

Allowing our artist to be of a social nature and 
inclined to accept many dinner invitations among 
friends, this arrangement affords not only the free- 
dom of a private parlor, with enjoyment of more 
room and greater choice of food, but costs little, if 
any, more than the thirty shillings to be paid at a 
boarding-house. Although it has the disadvantage, 
if one's circle of acquaintance is small, of becoming 
rather a lonely life, unless the student forms one of 
a party, particularly as painting should not be con- 



LONDON. 21 



tinucd in the evening, when tired brain and eyes 
need rest. At such times and under such circum- 
stances, the constantly changing society met with 
in a London pension proves a source of great enter- 
tainment. 

Let it be supposed, then, that our artist is settled 
in lodgings or at board in Russell, Gordon, Bedford, 
or any of the pretty squares of Bloomsbury, and 
looking about for masters, or to find what the art 
advantages are in general, before beginning to study 
seriously. 

There is the National Gallery within reasonable 
walking distance, for though an omnibus from Tot- 
tingham Court Road runs directly to Trafalgar 
Square, yet I should advise any one wanting to 
paint from early until late, and to whom exercise 
must consequently become a necessity, to save doc- 
tor's bills and cab fares by accomplishing the trip 
morning and evening on foot. 

Nowhere, I acknowledge, is driving so cheap, yet 
if often indulged in, a hansom makes an important 
item in the year's expenses, and though the most 
direct route to the gallery leads one through the 
well-known, disreputable quarter of the " Seven 
Dials," it is a great thoroughfare, and perfectly safe 
for a lady by daylight. Besides, one meets people 



22 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

and catches glimpses of a life nowhere else likely 
to be encountered, which remind the passer of a 
chapter from Dickens, for here are the Olivers, 
Sairy Gamps, and Pecksniffs who seem like old 
friends, and even real Fagins occasionally emerge 
from the dingy little shops where many a stolen 
article is on sale. 

To some people, this first sight of a poverty, vice, 
and misery of which one before could form no ade- 
quate conception, proves most startlingly interest- 
ing ; but of course, a young American lady in 
London would oftener give the preference to other 
streets. 

The National is thought to contain finer speci- 
mens of the various schools and periods in art than 
perhaps any collection in Europe, and therefore 
becomes invaluable to a painter for careful study. 
Two days of each week it is open only to copyists, 
and an application to the director, who, since Mr. 
Wornum's death, is, I believe, Sir Edward Eastlake, 
by letter, has heretofore been sufficient to gain 
admission at that time. But since a young and 
rather idle set have, much to the annoyance of the 
more serious, pretended to work there, examples of 
an applicant's ability maybe demanded in addition. 

After the Italian, Spanish, and Dutch rooms, 



LONDON. . 23 



perhaps the visitor will turn with some interest to 
the " Liber Studiorum," and three hundred lovely 
water-colors by Turner, varying in style from strik- 
ing effects in the Alps done on gray paper with 
body color, to the exquisitely finished vignettes 
designed as illustrations to Rogers's " Italy," Camp- 
bell's Poems, and "Rivers of France." The for- 
mer are hung in a small room of the gallery, acces- 
sibly low for study, while the latter three hundred 
are locked in cabinets below, where a fire is always 
burning to prevent any dampness. Of these, only 
twelve are allowed to be brought above for copying 
at any one time, and for this privilege a note of 
permission is necessary to the especial guardian, 
Mr. Paine, who has the sole charge of them. As 
they are always in great demand, it is well worth 
while to secure the precedence by being before the 
big doors in Trafalgar Square at the time of open- 
ing ; this analysis of Turner's work often proving 
more profitable to a student of water-colors than 
any lessons from a living master at a guinea an 
hour. 

The Venetian views in oils, also, of a later period, 
are excellent for copying in water-colors, and have 
a most charming effect, for in these Turner seems 
to have painted thinly on a solid white ground, so 



24 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

suggesting the more delicate medium that one is 
quite deceived at the first sight, the glass over them 
only adding to the illusion, though some of these 
" beautiful dreams," as Mr. Hamerton so truly calls 
them, are too sadly faded to be considered much 
more than suggestions in color. 

Sometimes one sees good painting done by the 
copyists, who at a moderate cost will give instruc- 
tion on the spot to a pupil wishing such help. 

Beside the Turners, in the English Department 
there are the Lawrences, Gainsboroughs, Landseers, 
Wilkies, Ettys, and Friths, which all claim atten- 
tion, so that a visitor can study the progress of 
painting from Cimabue to Rosa Bonheur with 
greater advantage in this collection, perhaps, than 
anywhere else, in spite of the contrary opinion 
expressed by a party of French and Spanish artists 
at a breakfast in Paris, — that the gems of the Na- 
tional Gallery were but copies, Turner a madman, 
and the English School in general unworthy con- 
sideration. 

There are the Kensington and Bcthnal Green 
loan exhibitions also, as well as the little Soane 
Museum in Lincoln's Inn Fields, where one can 
copy quite undisturbed by sight-seers, it being little 
known or frequented, though a curiously interest- 



LONDON. 25 



ing place of sliding doors and mysterious panels. 
It is only a few steps from Bloomsbury, the chosen 
quarter of our student. 

The Duke of Westminster, who possesses the 
famous " Blue Boy " by Gainsborough, Lord Dud- 
ley of Park Lane, and many other private collectors 
are said to be notedly generous in allowing an art- 
ist (presenting proper credentials) many privileges. 
Naturally the Grosvenor Gallery and numerous an- 
nual exhibitions of various societies and clubs will 
be visited during the season, especially by one in 
search of instruction in water-colors, as by this 
means is often found, not only the style desired, 
but, by consulting the catalogue, the address of a 
competent teacher. 

And let me recommend to any student wanting 
to acquire a very frank, vigorous method of sketch- 
ing from nature to see Mr. Bomford (whose name 
I give in the list farther on) and his work, which 
possesses the essential qualities of strength and 
purity necessary to all good water-color painting. 
His manner, too, of representing foliage is broad 
and striking, so that if one only went through a 
course in this branch, the benefit of Mr. Bomford's 
criticism would be invaluable. He is willing to 
receive pupils, and will even go out with a class 



26 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

before nature, to lessen the many difficulties which 
always confront a beginner, by a wise choice of 
subject and practical application of studio rules to 
out-door practice. His terms are very moderate, 
being three lessons for one guinea, with loan of 
excellent studies to be copied at home. To reach 
the address in St. John's Wood one has but to cross 
Regent's Park from the West Centre of London. 
Though a student might even think it worth while 
to engage board for several months in Maida Vale, 
where the rate would probably be lower than in 
the city proper. All that part of St. John's Wood 
is attractive and the site of many elegant residences, 
a little cottage among these, almost hidden by trees, 
being the home of Mr. Greene, a fine colorist, and 
the former teacher of Mr. Bomford, lessons from 
whom may be preferred to any from the latter, al- 
though having a more established reputation makes 
Mr. Greene's charges somewhat higher. 

I have made especial note of the method of paint- 
ing of these gentlemen, as one rarely sees the more 
old-fashioned, or what might be called legitimate 
water-color, the present English school having very 
generally adopted the use of white, which gives fine 
atmospheric effects, it is true, and adds brilliancy to 
foreground touches, but too often has the solidity 



LONDON. 27 



of a chromo, as in Mr. Ronbotham's Italian views 
of places he never saw, or many of Birket Foster's 
pictures, and destroys all transparency, which to 
some art lovers is the chief beauty of a water-color. 
To such, the sketches of the above-named masters 
will afford infinite pleasure, and a trip to Maida Vale 
not be without profit. 

After the Royal Academy School, where it is 
exceedingly difficult to gain admittance, if an ap- 
plicant can pass the examination at the Slade 
School, Gower Street, the course of instruction will 
prove a most thorough one, with the advantage to 
those wishing to study the figure of having excel- 
lent life models. The rooms are large, well venti- 
lated, and well lighted not only by day, but also at 
night, so that every facility necessary for improve- 
ment is supplied, though the terms make six months 
or a year of study rather expensive. A Frenchman 
is at the head of this institution, and under his 
supervision etching has been very successfully 
taken up by many of the pupils, at the same time 
with the other branches. 

A circular stating requirements and all details 
can be obtained of the curator in the building. 

There is also the Kensington Art School, con- 
nected with the Kensington Museum, about the 



28 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

merits of which one hears such different opinions 
from the best authorities that a student must visit 
it in person, and examine the general course pur- 
sued, in order to form an independent judgment. 

A few ladies who remember the Boston School 
of Design some years ago, and were fortunate 
enough to belong to the class under the able and 
inspiring teaching of Mr. Salisbury Tuckerman, 
know the method to have been nearly the same as 
that pursued at Kensington ; and such saw with 
great regret that, for want of proper support at the 
right time, the school in Temple Place had to be 
given up, as it would have afforded Bostonians the 
best art advantages. For it was not, as the name 
would suggest, merely industrial in character, like 
the present system of Mr. Walter Smith, and was 
of far more breadth and earnestness than any- 
thing found at the Lowell Free School, where 
good work is almost an impossibility in the 
crowded, narrow rooms, that, spite of an ever-in- 
creasingly rich fund, are the only accommodation 
for the students. The School of Design seemed 
exactly the happy medium which best answered 
to the common need. 

But to leave Boston and return to London, men- 
tion must be made of a class under the instruction 



LONDON. 29 



of Mr. Heatberly in Newman Street, where excel- 
lent casts from the antique are provided, as well 
as the living draped model for oil or water colors, 
at an exceedingly moderate price. In Queen's 
Square, Bloomsbury, is a rather elementary school 
for women, under the patronage of the Princess of 
Wales, who offers certain prizes for the best work 
done in the various classes, and of this there is an 
annual exhibition, which, to confess the honest 
truth, does not strike the visitor, from its standard 
of merit, as surprisingly creditable to the royal 
patroness. 

I believe I have now named most of the places 
which have any special claim to attention where a 
new-comer would seek art instruction in London, 
and all of these, with the exception of the Kensing- 
ton School, are in the immediate neighborhood 
of Bloomsbury, though naturally there are many 
delightful private clubs and classes accessible to 
an artist only through the influence of friends. 

While fog and mud may still keep one at work in 
doors and amid city life, two or three days of each 
week can be most profitably employed in sketch- 
ing under the beautiful arches of Westminster 
Abbey. Nothing can be more imposingly grand 
than the Henry Seventh Chapel, with its old carv- 



30 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

ing and massive doors, the tattered banners of 
so many noble families, and the ceiling of won- 
derful fan-shaped tracery. Everything, from the 
great chair where so many monarchs have been 
crowned, to the little, narrow door of St. John 
the Baptist's Chapel, with its faded Latin inscrip- 
tion, is full of deep interest, while the sunlight, 
creeping softly in through the fine stained win- 
dows, glorifies even the dimmest corner and makes 
a constant succession of lovely pictures. 

Sometimes, while painting in the solemn quiet, 
one hears rising above the deep tones of the 
great organ, the chanting of the sweet-voiced 
choir boys, and wonders if there is in existence 
finer interior architecture, or a church more sym- 
patica (as the Italians would say) than this beautiful 
abbey. 

Nor must the cloisters be passed with indiffer- 
ence, where the fine lines of the massive supports 
form a capital frame for the towers of the Hojuses 
of Parliament rising beyond, and make most effec- 
tive sketches. 

Permission for working there is granted by the 
Dean of Westminster to any American who can 
refer to a member of Parliament, or clergyman of- 
the Church of England, for a testimonial of good 



LOXDON. 31 



character, and guarantee that this great privilege 
will in no way be abused. 

But when the pleasant season approaches, the 
student will want to enjoy the fresh air, and turn 
frcm chilly churches toward the lovely environs, to 
which trains, omnibuses, and ferry-boats (the latter 
affording much that is picturesque on the way) 
quickly transport one. 

Windsor, then, seems to come first on the pro- 
gramme of artist or sight-seer, and generally proves 
most interesting, for after visiting the castle and 
fine old chapel, by crossing the river and turning 
to the right, just behind the red walls of Eton Col- 
lege, one catches a good view of the great round 
tower on the height, with river and boats in the 
foreground, for filling a leaf of the sketch-book; 
and the drive to Virginia Water makes a delight- 
ful ending to a summer day, before going back to 
London. Hampton Court, too, with its picture 
gallery and lovely Bushy Park, are attractive places 
for excursions, of which the labyrinth and donkey 
races form no unimportant feature. 

Pretty new gardens and the fine view from the 
terrace at Richmond Park are to be seen, where, 
from the deer feeding close at hand, the eye fol- 
lows the river between its green banks, made gay 



32 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

with picnic parties, until it rests on that beacon for 
so many miles around, the great dome of St. 
Paul's. 

Some people, however, prefer Hampstead Heath, 
made famous by Copley, Fielding, Turner, David 
Cox, and so many other English painters, the 
extreme beauty of its distant prospect being no- 
where equalled. 

It is a pleasant resort, with colors and lunch in 
the pocket, for wandering about or sitting under 
the one group of tall pines, to try putting on paper 
the effect of London, charmingly hazy in the dis- 
tance, or the shadow of fleeting clouds playing over 
the brilliant green of the surrounding slopes. Our 
artist can do the fashionable thing by going to 
Greenwich to eat whitebait, or row on the river 
to Twickenham, where there are many pretty 
bits of scenery, and just above the bridges plenty 
of subjects for the brush. Clumsy lumber-boats 
with dull yellow sails moored along the Thames 
embankment, flanked by immense breweries, — 
which, surmounted oftentimes by stone lions and 
striking devices, might easily be mistaken for 
palaces, — make capital compositions, as Dore 
has so powerfully illustrated. Or, better still, take 
the train from Shoreditch Station to Angel Road, 



LONDON. 33 



where, after a walk of a mile between flowery hedges 
and through verdant meadows, the lover of the pic- 
turesque sees with delight the ruined Norman 
tower of Chingford Church. 

Descending the hill from this crumbling pile, 
standing amid the time-stained headstones of its 
little graveyard, by traversing a part of Epping 
Forest, lying a long way farther on, a traveller can 
drink a beaker to the memory of old Joe Willett, 
at the veritable " Maypole Inn," seated at the table 
where Dickens himself has often dined. 

Guildford, too, not far from the city, has quiet, 
attractive scenery, with some interesting old houses, 
and Seven Oaks, in Kent, is particularly recom- 
mended for its many beautiful trees. Clovelly and 
Dartmore take artists in that direction ; and if one 
ventures as far as the uncertain climate of Wales, 
Bettws-y-coed is said to be the most favorable spot 
on which to pitch a painter s camp. 

After some of these country excursions it is a 
good plan to occasionally select a successful study, 
and try one's fate at the hands of a critical jury, say 
that of the Dudley Gallery, for instance. Accept- 
ance of a picture for so small and popular a collec- 
tion is always a great encouragement, and if by 
good chance the modest student finds, on a first 
3 



34 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

visit, a black star affixed to the frame of her pro- 
duction, announcing to the world its sale at the 
" private view," when only the invited few are 
admitted, such a happy surprise is worth making 
an effort to enjoy. A famous painter once said, 
" Criticism never hurt any one, but praise has 
spoiled many a good artist" ; and on this principle, 
beginning early to expose one's work, and taking 
success or failure in the right spirit, seems the 
surest road to improvement. Beside, no money 
ever seems so entirely one's own, or to last as long, 
as any thus earned. 

Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham also 
have excellent exhibitions during the summer, 
opening just after that at the Royal Academy is 
over, and have the reputation of being the best 
places for selling amateur work. For England's 
greatest art patrons are not the noblemen, as a 
stranger might imagine, but the rich manufacturers 
and tradespeople, who buy pictures freely, and pay 
most generously for them. 



CLOTHES, SHOPS, AND ADDRESSES. 35 



CHAPTER III. 

CLOTHES, SHOPS, AND ADDRESSES. 

Perhaps after six months or more of painting, 
our student wishes to replenish her wardrobe, and 
begins to haunt the shops, and wonder which are the 
best to patronize, and where a good dressmaker 
can be found. If so, a few hints on these points 
may not be unwelcome ; for even to a busy, econom- 
ical woman, who only wishes to be neatly and taste- 
fully dressed, whether at work or play, the subject 
of clothes must sometimes become a necessary 
consideration. 

And to combine beauty with cheapness is 
always found to be difficult, so one discovers with 
satisfaction that substantial cloth of all kinds and^„ 
dress goods cost less in London than elsewhere 
There is little taste or style, to be sure, shown in 
any of the ready-made costumes displayed in the *> 
windows at such reasonable prices; but at Howells 



36 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

& James, Regent Street, Peter Robinson's, Oxford 
Street, or through court and theatre furnishers, 
pretty and well-made suits can be obtained. 

Evidently the English do not, like American 
ladies, believe in the oft-quoted remark, thai 
"there is a repose in being well dressed that 
religion fails to give," for nowhere is the so-called 
dowdy as frequently encountered as in the great 
capital. 

A certain class of Londoners express a praise- 
worthy disapproval of slavishly imitating fashions 
set by the Parisian demi-monde, though unfortu- 
nately, most of those holding this opinion entirely 
lack the eye for color and effect, which, without 
going to any extreme, can produce a charming 
ensemble. Perhaps, then, the task of combining 
English sense with French taste must be left to 
my countrywomen, together with the wearing of 
water-proofs, thick boots, and heavy materials, so 
characteristic of the former, with the same grace as 
the exquisite but less durable fabrics of the latter. 

Possibly our student, like Miss Hosmer, loves 
art much, but horses more, and needs a new habit, 
in which to occasionally take a turn in Rotten 
Row, or refresh a weary head by a ride to Rich- 
mond Park. If this should be the case, she will go 



CLOTHES, SHOPS, AND ADDRESSES. 37 

to Wolmershausen, Curzon Street, Mayfair, and 
after selecting a suitable cloth, is shown to the 
fitting-room, where, summoned by a bell, a gentle- 
manly individual appears, and, somewhat to her 
surprise, proceeds in a business-like manner to 
take the necessary measures. On a second visit 
she mounts a life-size rocking-horse, and endeavors 
to find a flaw, if possible, in the faultlessly fitting 
garment, the skirt of which, cut with a peculiar 
gore at the knee, hangs in most graceful folds. 

Strange as it seems at first to be fitted by a 
man instead of the usual deft fingers of a woman, 
yet one is obliged to confess that the result proves 
him to be, in this as in so many other professions, 
the more clever of the two. 

One masterly stroke of the scissors, forming 
what is known as the " Wolmershausen gore," has 
alone given this establishment its world-wide repu- 
tation, though not only habits, but every descrip- 
tion of costumes, to the thinnest ball-dress, is made 
here in an equally perfect manner. Consequently, 
though the first cost is perhaps somewhat greater 
than at other places, patronage of the Mayfair firm 
will in the end prove economical. 

A beaver riding hat for a lady, also, only to be pur- 
chased in the United States for seven or eight dol- 



33 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

lars, can be had at .Sparrow's in High Holborn for 
twelve or thirteen shillings, which certainly shows 
a considerable difference. 

Reliable black silks, either Bonnet or of English 
manufacture, must be sought for at Hilditch's, less 
being demanded for the former by this house than 
at the company's establishment in Lyons, it has 
been affirmed by travellers. 

The India Outfitting Company supplies the best 
of ready-made underclothes, and water-proof cloth 
by the yard ; also Scholbred or Bennet, South- 
hampton Row, the most substantial hosiery at 
reasonable prices. London is the city of all others 
in which to buy furs, and August the time to pay 
from eight to twenty guineas and become the pos- 
sessor of a long sealskin paletot or silk, fur-lined 
circular in which to defy the -cold of many Ameri- 
can winters. 

Bonnets, ribbons, feathers, and little things are 
spoken of as presents at Whiteley's, where a lunch 
too is offered free of charge to any one making 
large purchases, after the style of the cake and 
sirop given ladies at the Bon Marche in Paris. 
But to any one of thrifty disposition, with patience 
enough to delay buying until the close of the Lon- 
don season (when articles of every description are 



marked down to the lowest figures), shopping will 
become a pleasure. 

A resident of England for any length of time 
will undoubtedly choose the " Civil Service " or 
" Army and Navy stores " as being preferable to 
others in every respect, particularly if living in 
lodgings and providing for one's self, when a ticket 
to the grocery department will save many pence in 
the course of a year, and the quality of everything 
be warranted. 

It is taken for granted that a painter will not 
neglect before leaving to lay in a large stock of 
water-colors, from Winsor & Newton's, Rathbone 
Place, as such are so much more expensive else- 
where ; also paper of all kinds, whether for artistic 
or literary purposes. 

Mr. Callen will do any framing of pictures neatly 
and cheaply, or act as exhibition agent if desired 
to do so, though by asking for a Bowney Catalogue 
at any color-shop, all dates and necessary details 
can be obtained for attending to such matters with- 
out an agent's assistance. 

TEACHERS OF WATER-COLORS. 

Mr. Naftil, 4 St. Stephen's Square, Bayswater. 
Mr. L. G. Bomford, 5 Lanark Villas, Maida Vale, St. John's 
Wood, W. 



40 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

Mr. E. Greene, 3 Circus Road, St. John's Wood. 

Mr. Keween,- Oakfield House, Park Road, Haverstock Hill, 

N. W. 
Mr. R. P. Noble, in Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square. 
Mr. READS, Wells Street, from Oxford Street. 
Mr. J. Steeple, 18 Leighton Crescent, Brecknock Road. 
Mr. L Carlisle, 56 Adelaide Road, Haverstock Hill, N. W. 
Mr. NEEDHAM, Sunny Side, Sutton, Surry. 
Miss Charlotte Phillot, 259 Stanhope Street, Mornington 

Crescent, N. W. (For heads and figures.) 

BOARDING AND LODGING HOUSES. 

Miss Hills, 14 Thayer Street, Manchester Square. (Prices 

high.) 
Miss Jack, 9 Dorset Square. (Prices high.) 
Miss JiNCH, 82 and 84 Seymour Street. (Moderate.) 
Miss Reddit, 86 Seymore Street, Hyde Park. 
Miss Flemings, 15 New Cavendish Street. 
Miss Rutter, 9 Woburn Place. 
Misses Warner, 23 Torrington Square. (Cheap.) 
Mrs. Wasley, 43 Upper Bedford Place. (Clean, and very reason- 
able.) 
Mrs. Adams, 37 Somerset Street, Portman Square (ten shillings 

for room, and meals as one orders), 25 and 59 Torrington 

Square. (Excellent lodgings.) 
Mr. Burr, ii Queen's Square, 23 Norfolk Street, Strand. (Small 

hotel.) 
Mrs. Brown, Warwick. (Can be heard of at Timm's bakers' shop, 

Main Street.) 
Miss Wareham, No. 3 Crosby Terrace, Leamington. (Neat 

lodgings and excellent food.) 
Mrs. Piper, 156 Walton Street, Oxford. 
" The Blossoms," Chester. 
Shakespeare Arms, Stratford. 



CLOTHES, SHOPS, AND ADDRESSES. 41 



' SHOPS. 

Scott Adies, Regent Street. (For water-proofs ) 

Howell & James, Regent Street. (For dresses.) 

Peter Robinson, Oxford Street. (For dresses.) 

Hilditch, 3 Cheapside. (For black silks.) 

Scholbred's, Tottenham Court Road. (For hosiery.) 

Cooke's, 71 Oxford Street. (For furs.) 

Sparrow & Son, 66 High Holborn. (For riding hats.) 

India Outfitting Company, Cheapside. (For ready-made 

underclothes.) 
Whiteley's, Westbourne Grove. (For bonnets, ribbons, etc.) 
Brodie & Middleton, 79 Long Acre. (For cheap art materials.) 
C allen's, 12 Great St. Andrews Street, Bloomsbury. (For cheap 

frames.) 
Nytch and Wardour Streets, for antiquity shops. 
Covent Garden Market (For fine flowers.) 
Civil Service Stores or Army and Navy Shops. (For every 

description of article and provisions at strictly just prices, but 

a card from a subscriber is necessary.) 
Leaper & Dawson, Vere Street. (Excellent dressmakers.) 



42 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 



CHAPTER IV. 



PARIS. 



The American art student, who gives but a 
week to London and water-colors before passing 
on to the gayer city Paris for an education in oils, 
will find it economical, if not provided with a 
through ticket by the steamer company, to cross 
the channel by almost any route rather than fash- 
ionable Calais and Dover. Say Dieppe and New- 
Haven, for instance, where the fare is but thirty 
francs, second class, the baggage rates very low, 
and the boats of the company larger and more 
comfortable. 

Arrived in the metropolis and turning toward 
what is often called the painters' quarter of the rive 
droite or north side of the Seine (that circuit lying 
between the gave du Nord and gave St. Lazare, the 
Opera House and Montmartre), finds almost every 
block on Boulevard Clichy, Rochechonart, and the 



PARIS. 43 



intervening streets entirely given up to studios ; for 
not only do some of the leading masters, like Bon- 
nat, Gerome, and'Miiller, meet their elasses in that 
locality, but also have their private residences there. 

All Paris, however, is apt to strike a new-comer 
as being but one vast studio, particularly if seeing 
it for the first time of a morning, either in summer 
or winter, between seven and eight o'clock, when 
students, bearing paint-box and toile> swarm in all 
directions, hurrying to their cours; or still more 
when artistic excitement reaches its height, during 
the days appointed for sending work to be examined 
by the jury of the Salon. Then pictures literally 
darken the air, borne on men's shoulders and backs, 
packed in immense vans, or under an arm of the 
painter himself, all going to the same destination, — 
the Palais de 1' Industrie on the Champs Elysees. 

L'Ecole des Beaux Arts, beside Monsieur Jackson 
and other masters, attracts many to the Latin Quar- 
tier for forming another little art world, so a stranger 
decides each arrondissement offers some advantages, 
and it is not a question of so much importance as 
in limitless London, where one selects an abode. 

But to a party or painter, counting expense and 
crossing the Atlantic for several years of study in 
Paris, to hire and furnish an apartment is undoubt- 



44 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

edly much cheaper than any hotel or pension can 
be. For living, until one learns the real French 
manner of doing it, is quite as high as in America, 
and a visitor is sadly disappointed if cheapness is 
expected to be found in anything beyond gloves 
and Turkey carpets. 

To furnish even a small apartment prettily takes 
time and trouble, as every woman knows, but if 
one chooses to spend a few hundred francs at 
Hotel Druot (the great auction-rooms of Paris), a 
fine collection of useful and ornamental meubles 
may be bought for surprisingly little money, not 
pei haps quite new, but if carefully selected, suitable 
to adorn an American studio when no longer needed 
in France. And as household articles after a year's 
use, together with bric-a-brac which belongs in the 
category of " artist's tools of trade," can pass the 
customs free, the question of heavy duties in trans- 
porting such has not to be considered. 

It is found very convenient, and even necessary, 
to number in a party about to settle in Paris one 
member of a domestic turn of mind, as a bonne, 
fcmme de menage and blancJiisscnse each need care- 
ful looking after. For, like the merchants, they 
seem to consider all foreigners as fair prey, and 
proceed to fleece such unfortunates to the best of 
their ability. 



PARIS. 45 



It has never been my happy experience to find 
one of this class who could be called strictly honest, 
and it becomes almost laughable to see how, like 
so many among the Irish help of America, they 
make a decided distinction between the purse and 
the provisions of a mistress. For though a pile of 
gold may be safely left for any length of time within 
reach, everything, from butter to charcoal, is un- 
hesitatingly appropriated in the cuisine, and family 
or relations in the neighborhood luxuriously sup- 
ported thereon. 

Some ladies do not mind such trifles, and quietly 
submit, paying the thirty francs demanded for ser- 
vice by a bonne, beside board, clothes, and lodging, 
per month without a murmur. Others try to settle 
this vexed question of help by preparing breakfast 
and lunch for themselves, only engaging a femme 
de menage, at five sous per hour, for all other work 
and cooking the dinner. 

I have known ladies coming to Paris for only a 
short time, wishing to accomplish much shopping or 
sight-seeing with economy, be very comfortable by 
taking a room at the " Grande Hotel du Louvre," 
where by aid of a spirit-lamp a delicious cup of 
coffee is provided in the morning, lunch taken at 
a restaurant, in any part of the city where their 



46 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

wanderings may have led them, returning only at 
night for the substantial table d'hote of the hotel. 

Still another way, which has been followed by 
many students with success, is to hire a furnished 
room in some small hotel, such as one finds in Rue 
de Douai, for instance, at a franc per day, make 
one's breakfast of a roll and cup of coffee, taken at 
a cremerie, buying lunch en route for the studio, 
and at six o'clock going to the nearest Duval 
establishment for a dinner, costing from one franc, 
fifty centimes, upward. 

This, amounting in all to about four francs per 
day, a lady affirmed, judging from her own experi- 
ence, was by far the cheapest and simplest arrange- 
ment possible for one intent on studying art in 
Paris. 

For though it may have a somewhat homeless 
sound in description, yet the French live so entirely 
in the theatres, cafes, and on the boulevards, that 
a stranger looks in vain for anything corresponding 
to an English or American home, the comfort and 
beauty of which, like the word itself, seeming quite 
unknown in the frivolous capital. 

Then, too, supposing our artist wants to study 
from early until late, and has perhaps sufficient 
strength and eyesight for the evening seance at the 



PARIS. 47 



chosen cours, the hours are so fully occupied, there 
is no time for homesick repinings, so I will try to 
aid in the accomplishment of her plans, if possible, 
by mentioning some classes for instruction that 
have come under my notice. 

Firstly, then, is the well lighted and ventilated 
studio of Monsieur Krug, No. 1 1 Boulevard Clichy, 
devoted to female students in all branches of art, 
and where the much-discussed question of the 
propriety of women's studying from the nude is 
settled in a delicate and proper manner by the gen- 
tlemanly director. Here one has the great advan- 
tage of severe and discriminating criticism, two 
mornings in each week, from Monsieur Carl Miiller, 
the painter of the well-known " Conciergerie dur- 
ing the Reign of Terror," hanging in the Luxem- 
bourg, and the recipient of every honor France 
has to bestow on a man of genius. Monsieur Cott 
and the sculptor, Carrier-Belleuse, also visit the 
class to inspect the afternoon and evening draw- 
ings. Monsieur Krug's prices are moderate, being 
one hundred francs per month, for the two daily 
and one evening seance, with no extra charge for 
the excellent models provided, or for towels, soap, 
etc., as is often the custom. 

This is, on some accounts, for an American lady, 



48 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

new to painting and Paris, the best atelier she could 
choose, for many are overcrowded, badly managed, 
expensive, or affording only objectionable compan- 
ionship. Still the pupils or admirers of each lead- 
ing painter sing his praises loud and long, and 
those who receive ladies are Messieurs Chaplin, 
Barrais, Duran, Cabanel, Jackson, Luminais, Bou- 
gereau, Robert Fleurry, and Lefebre, 

Then there is Jullien's upper and lower school, 
in Passage Panorama, where a student receives 
criticism from the first leading authorities, and is 
surrounded by splendidly strong work on the easels 
of the many faithful French, who for years have 
crowded the dirty, close rooms, though I believe 
the lower school, as it is called, or male class, no 
longer opens its doors to women, for the price, being 
but one half that of the upper school, attracted too 
many. Also with better models, and a higher 
standard of work, it was yet found to be an impos- 
sibility that women should paint from the living 
nude models of both sexes, side by side with 
Frenchmen. 

This is a sad conclusion to arrive at, when one 
remembers the brave efforts made by a band of 
American ladies some years ago, who supported 
one another with such dignity and modesty, in 



PARIS. 49 



a steadfast purpose under this ordeal, that even 
Parisians, to whom such a type of womanly char- 
acter was unknown and almost incomprehensible, 
were forced into respect and admiration of the 
simple earnestness and purity which proved a 
sufficient protection from even their evil tongues ; 
M. Jullien himself confessing that if all ladies exer- 
cised'the beneficial influence of a certain Madonna- 
faced Miss N. among them, anything would be 
possible. 

Something beside courage was needed for such a 
triumph ; and young women of no other nation- 
ality could have accomplished it, though, it must be 
acknowledged, a like clique will not easily be met 
with again. 

So, let those who commonly represent the indis- 
creet, husband-hunting, title-seeking butterfly as 
the typical American girl abroad, at least do her 
the justice to put this fact on record, to her credit. 

It only needs, however, the co-operation of a 
sufficient number of earnest female students to 
form a club, hire a studio, choose a critic, and 
engage models, to secure the same advantages 
now enjoyed only by men, at the same exceedingly 
low rates. This plan was seriously talked of not 
long ago, and only failed of being put into execution 
4 



50 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

from the want of one member with time and 
energy enough to take upon herself the respon- 
sibility of making a beginning. 

But it is the right thing to be done, and the only 
way open at present to successfully rectify the in- 
justice of prices charged by Parisian masters for 
art instruction to women. Though, strange to say, 
these same masters, outside of their own studios, are 
generous of their time and will seldom refuse criti- 
cism to a class of ladies entirely free of charge. 

This, however, may not be from wholly disinter- 
ested motives, as pupils are constantly proving by 
their ability and success, that time has not been 
wasted on them, and the honors received can only 
give added lustre to the master's name and make 
his troop of followers the larger. 

American women, particularly, are beginning to 
lead in this direction, so there should be no pains 
spared to remove all obstacles in the most direct 
path to a thorough education for them, by bring- 
ing the best in every branch within their (too 
often) limited means. 

An unprejudiced judge of pictures, in Paris, 
making the tour through the studios of Americans 
of both sexes, and carefully examining the work 
found there and at the Salon consecutive seasons, 



PARIS. 5 1 



cannot but admit that in many instances that of 
the women is far superior and, what is somewhat 
surprising, far stronger in style than most of that 
done by the men. 

If Mr. John Sargent be excepted, whose portrait 
of Carolus Duran .alone undoubtedly places him in 
the first rank of painters, there is no other male 
student from the United States in Paris to-day, 
exhibiting in his pictures the splendid coloring 
always found in the work of Miss Casatte, from 
Philadelphia, or the strength and vigor of Miss 
Dodson's " Deborah," particularly remarked in this 
year's Salon. 

It is something of a boast for America to possess 
even these women candidates for artistic honors 
whose work bears favorable comparison with so 
much that is excellent done by the men of the 
same nationality, and that of the French in the 
great exhibitions ; for even among the latter, a 
nation of painters as it is, the names only of Rosa 
Bonheur, Nelie Jacquemart, Louise Abbema, and 
Sara Bernhardt occur as having so far distin- 
guished themselves in art. With the last named, 
too, it seems more the versatility of talent shown by 
the leading actress of the Theatre Frangais, than 
real merit as sculptor or painter, which attracts 



52 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

the crowd about any production of hers. And 
what is notably striking in the pictures of Rosa 
Bonheur is her bold, almost masculine use of the 
brush, compared with the more delicate, even un- 
certain style of her brother, Jules Bonheur. A 
stranger, seeing the two canvases side by side, 
would unhesitatingly select hers as the work of the 
man. Of the same lady M. Krug tells a story. 

Some years ago, before Barbizon became the 
rendezvous it now is for artists from every part of 
the globe, he, together with a party of painters, 
went to that corner of the beautiful forest of Fon- 
tainebleau, on a sketching trip ; and in coming and 
going from the one little hotel the town contained, 
they often met a slender, solitary youth, who with 
easel and colors seemed from early until late intent 
only on work. 

His great reserve and unsociability awakened, 
naturally enough, some curiosity about him, until 
it was discovered that the youth was no other than 
the distinguished Rosa Bonheur, who, for greater 
independence, had donned male attire to paint un- 
known at Barbizon. The artists religiously kept 
her secret, and not until long after did she learn 
that she had been recognized and her disguise of 
little account. 



PARIS. 53 



The art school which she founded, and which, if 
I am not mistaken, bears her name, has success- 
fully operated for years, and offers many advan- 
tages, free of all cost, to the aspiring young French 
girl. 

Monsieur Jackson, who. holds a high rank as 
draughtsman-, though little is heard or seen of 
his pictures, enjoys a great reputation as a teacher, 
being severe in criticism, exceedingly thorough in 
method, and slow to allow a pupil to begin in color 
until well grounded in drawing. He visits the 
lower gallery of the Louvre twice a week, where 
many of his class draw in charcoal from the antique, 
as this is thought the best preparation for begin- 
ning from life, which seems at first so insurmount- 
ably difficult. His atelier is in Rue des Beaux 
Arts, and his prices are somewhat high, being 
one hundred francs a month for one daily seance. 
Fantin-la-Tour, whose work, so often exposed in 
London shop-windows, has only to be seen to be 
admired, has his apartment in the same street, 
and occasionally takes pupils for moderate remu- 
neration. 

Charles Jacque, also, whose sheep, amid such rich 
forest scenery, seem to blink at a spectator from 
so many frames, considers Americans his best 



54 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

> 

patrons, and will receive a student desirous of be- 
coming an animal painter. 

There are stories told, too, of a famous artist 
living at Ecouen, who has one entire side of his 
ground-floor working room built of glass, and open- 
ing directly into a yard where his favorite animals 
are kept ready for study at all times. But the 
name of this gentleman is discreetly withheld, to- 
gether with the fact of whether he would willingly 
allow pupils the same advantages as those arranged 
for himself. 

Ecouen (since Couture no longer attracts Ameri- 
cans to the little village on the hill so Ions: com- 
mon meeting-ground for students) has become very 
popular. For not only is living cheap and the 
country pretty, but Monsieur Edouard Frere does 
much not only as painter and teacher, but by 
hospitably opening his salon once a week, to make 
the town an agreeable residence for strangers. 

Before turning toward the banlieue, an artist may 
think it best to copy some of the Rembrandts of 
the Louvre, so often suggested by Bonnat to his 
pupils as good practice, or the smaller yet attractive 
pictures in the Le Caze room, or even put an easel 
up before the more modern ones in the Luxem- 
bourg, though the charming old Hotel Cluny, with 



paris. 55 



its ruined baths standing in the pretty garden, 
its spiral stone staircase leading to the quaint little 
chapel, royal chambers, and even royal bed above, 
and the many chariots and interesting relics of the 
museum below, will prove, I imagine, irresistible. 
The picturesque front, with its antique windows and 
fine stonework, old well, and escutcheons, makes 
in itself a good subject for color at the entrance, 
though to take it from the opposite sidewalk would 
not be easy, sketching in the open air in Paris be- 
ing surrounded by all kinds of difficulties, from the 
permission which must be demanded of the au- 
thorities, to the impertinent rabble that immedi- 
ately collects to look over one's shoulder. 

To avoid all this, the painters of street-scenes, 
a subject most fashionable just now, resort t6 hiring 
a fiacre by the hour, seated in which, with pencil 
or brush, they can catch a likeness of the passers 
or desired object, unobserved and unmolested. 

An order for working in the Museum or the 
grounds surrounding it is easily obtained from an 
official in his office on the second floor, if a student 
is not discouraged by the disagreeable concierge, 
who gives as little information as possible on the 
subject, and is very reluctant to show the way up. 

Everybody goes to St. Germain (en Laye), to 



56 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

enjoy the extended view while dining in the hotel- 
garden, or to St. Denis to examine the church and 
relics, to the Sevres china manufactory, or Ver- 
sailles, £pr its picture gallery, Trianon, and Grandes 
Eaux ; or taking one of the bateaux mouches, which 
from the quay ply the river in each direction, goes 
as far as St. Cloud, to walk in the park and climb 
the hill to the walls of the once fine chateau ; or, 
after the fashion of the pleasure-ioving Parisians, 
mounts a tram on a Sunday for visiting the fort 
and forest of Vincennes. 

Very possibly, however, a good Puritan would 
hardly accept that last suggestion, or approve the 
hard-working French ouvrier, who, with big din- 
ner-basket, takes wife and children, to spend this 
day of leisure in some neighboring wood, or if too 
poor to go as far, stretches himself on the grass 
amid the yellow dandelions encircling the city 
fortifications. For Sunday is wholly the people's 
day in France, and always a gay one, galleries, 
theatres, and every place of entertainment being 
open ; yet there is less drunkenness and disorder 
than at other times, the extra trains bearing the 
bourgeois by thousands into the country. 

Many Americans resident in Paris resort in 
summer to the towns named above, preferring a 



PARIS. 57 



taste of country life to watering-places and the sea. 
But all of these resorts, especially Versailles, St. 
Germain, and St. Cloud, are fashionable and more 
or less expensive, the farmers and market-gardeners 
preferring to transport their products directly to the 
central city halles and pay the high rate of octroi 
to selling in smaller quantities nearer home, and 
this makes provisions and actual living higher than 
in the capital itself, though rents and other things 
are proportionately less. Even Ville d'Avray, Meu- 
don, and the smaller places are not found to be as 
cheap as a stranger might expect, but apartments 
are plenty and the scenery picturesque. 

Meudon deserves description a little more in 
detail, as an artist could select no lovelier spot for 
sojourning in any of the environs, and it is easily 
reached in twenty minutes from the gare Mont- 
parnasse, by the rive gauche for Versailles. 

The well-known view from the Terrace, of Paris 
with its many spires, gilded dome of the Invalides, 
and towers of the Trocadero, relieved against the 
steep rise of Montmartre, the Seine winding under 
its white, arched bridges almost to one's feet at Bas 
Meudon, makes, on a sunny day, a truly dazzling 
panorama, which fully equals, if not surpasses, that 
famous view of Rome from the Pincio. 



58 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

The air is like champagne, wonderfully clear and 
invigorating, for Meudon is built along the sloping 
sides of a hill rising very abruptly from the Seine 
and green Val Fleury. It seems quite on a level 
wfth Mont Vale'rien, whose embattled summit 
shows finely through the vista formed by the beau- 
tiful lime-trees, on either hand of the " Avenue 
du Chateau." 

The building to which this fine avenue conducts 
was erected by the Grand Dauphin, son of Louis 
XIV., who died in it, Napoleon fitting it up for 
Marie Louise, to be destroyed in 1S71 by the 
shells of the Prussians, so that now only three 
sides of it remain, one corner of the outer bdtiment 
serving as an observatory, the rest as barracks or 
stables. 

The artist will walk delightedly about the village, 
and perhaps discover the straggling pathway lead- 
ing to the plateau at the foot of the chateau-wall, 
from which one commands a very extended pros- 
pect. The lofty viaduct and wooded valley, with 
the red roofs of Issy, make a becoming fond for 
the large wheels turning like windmills on the hill 
of Fleury, or for the stone abreuvoir, where noble 
Normandy horses, in heavy harnesses, blue sheep- 
skin collars, and squirrel-tails dangling at their 



Paris. 59 



ears, drink in close proximity to the peasants wash- 
ing their salads. But the charms of the far-reach- 
ing " Bois de Meudon" are beyond description, it 
not being carefully laid out in walks and artificial 
ponds, but all is wild and picturesque along its 
broad avenues, which in times past have seen so 
much royal hunting. 

In autumn, when the fagot-women, in bright 
handkerchiefs, stuff skirts, and sabots, are at work, 
or the woodcutters, in blue blouses, their scarlet 
belts filled with glistening knives, sing as they 
chop, amid the rich russet tints of the grand old 
trees, it is like opening a portfolio of sketches by 
Millet. 

Perhaps other woods are quite as beautiful, 
although that at St. Germain, St. Cloud, or Vin- 
cennes cannot compare with it, yet the bois, with 
the attractive views and healthy air, makes Meudon 
a most charmingly artistic retreat for an outing. 

Farther off from Paris, Grez, near Nemours, 
within walking distance of Barbizon, and donkey- 
ride of Fontainebleau, has its admirers. For this 
small hamlet, never heard of until lately, when 
rumors of its picturesqueness and the free life led 
there have reached the studios, has now become 
quite popular. 



60 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

One painter after another, with mind filled by 
many lingering doubts as to what it would be like, 
has ventured to go, generally being received on his 
arrival by all the inhabitants of the town, who 
turn out to see each new-comer and divide any 
luggage among themselves, for transportation to 
the one little inn, which, until this year, has been 
the only accommodation afforded. 

The place has its old bridge and ruin, its boating 
and bathing, the river making these possible for 
ladies as well as gentlemen, flannel shirts and 
tramp dresses being the order of the d ly. Fine 
clothes are out of place and strictly forbidden by 
the freedom-loving set which now annually meets 
in the small rooms of the aubcrge, where board 
was from four to five francs per day, but lately, 
since a hotel has been started, the rate is raised to 
six francs, I am told. 

The address can be found in the list at the end 
by any one desirous to try roughing it a little in 
France ; for Grez quite corresponds on one side of 
the Atlantic, to Clark's Island, off Plymouth, Mass., 
on the other, and though not by the sea, it still 
possesses the same charm to those who have once 
been adventurous enough to spend a summer there. 

But if a student prefers taking advantage of the 



PARIS. 6 1 



cheap excursion tickets, issued by many of the 
railroad companies, to see Switzerland, Venice, Nor- 
mandy, or Brittany, to spending a vacation nearer 
Paris,' a few hints about some picturesque and his- 
torical places in the latter district may be accept- 
able. If not approaching the western coast from 
New York to Brest, or Southhampton to St. Malo, 
the route from Paris takes one through Chartres and 
Lemans, where the cathedral of each being very fine, 
it is well worth stopping over a train to see them. 

For the first, besides its grand proportions, and 
the added interest of Henri IV. having been 
crowned there, possesses, perhaps, the finest stained 
glass in all France, and three rose-windows among 
its one hundred and thirty, which mostly date from 
the thirteenth century, are very beautiful. 

The cathedral at Lemans, dedicated to St. Julian, 
deserves great attention, parts of it being of the 
eighth and ninth century, and the choir is of 1220, 
that period when pointed Gothic architecture was 
in its perfection. The colored glass, too, is almost 
as lovely as that at Chartres, and in the town some 
specimens of mediaeval work still remain, the house 
of Queen Berengaria being pointed out as one of 
these. 

The traveller will hardly stop at Rennes, unless 



62 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

for changing trains to St. Malo, in the north, 
which is an old, picturesque place, and from which 
one takes the boat, going up the pretty river 
Ranee, passing under the magnificent viaduct to 
reach Dinan. Here an artist can rest with delight 
for many months, as everything, from the adjacent 
country, which is thought to be the most beautiful 
in Brittany, to the ancient gateways and clock- 
tower in a street so narrow that the gabled roofs 
meet overhead, is sufficiently attractive to keep 
the brush constantly busy. 

Queen Anne's castle, now a prison, the old town- 
wall and watch-towers, fine fosse, and Romanesque 
St. Sauveur, all are interesting ; also the steep 
descent to the river, two hundred and fifty feet 
below, clown which the many little streets run so 
precipitately, that, particularly in Rue de Jerznal, 
even a foot-passenger finds the way almost imprac- 
ticable, and wonders how the royal carriage ever 
accomplished an exit by this, at one time, only 
route. 

It may be a disappointment not oftener to meet, 
in this corner of France, with the old costumes 
which one naturally expects in a place where the 
world seems to have stood still for centuries. But 
it is only occasionally on a fete-day that one en- 



PARIS. 6$ 



counters a peasant en grande tenuc, and the white 
caps, of different styles and shapes, seem the only- 
distinguishing feature of the various towns or can- 
tons. Curious figures sometimes make their appear- 
ance at the weekly pig-market held in Place St. 
Louis, where the women do the trading, fighting 
valiantly with an obstinate or enraged animal, and 
sometimes conquering only by mounting him, 
squealing loudly, on to their shoulders, and so bear- 
ing him off in triumph, amid the commendations 
of the crowd. It is a most amusing scene, so 
decidedly new and varied in character as to be 
well worth taking a stroll to see ; but further, in the 
same direction from the town, is pretty Lehon, 
with its castle, abbey, and chapel of the Beauma- 
noirs, the latter standing so near the river that its 
ruined windows are distinctly reflected in the stream 
below. The thatched huts of the peasants, too, 
who sit stripping the golden osiers at their doors, 
and the fine view from the hill of Dinan's antique 
towers and spires, make this a charming walk. 
But there are plenty of excursions in almost every 
direction to the Chateau de la Garaye, read of in 
Mrs. Norton's verse, and a good subject for color, 
where the old stables, now used as a house, con- 
tain furniture made from the carved oak manners 



64 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

and stalls. The castles of Montafilant and La 
Hunaudaye, reached by donkey-ride or carriage- 
drive, must all be visited. 

Toward the coast is Morlaix, which is very 
quaint and boasts the finest viaduct in France ; 
and here, too, one at last sees the real Breton 
costume, the trunk-hose, wide-brimmed hats, and 
shaggy locks. There is much old Gothic archi- 
tecture also remaining, and a fine carved staircase 
near the quay. 

Going from here, a little south is Pontaven (Fin- 
istere), so much frequented lately by artists. It is 
near the sea and within carriage-drive of the Pointe 
or Bee du Ray, which is the most tempest-tossed 
part of the coast, the Baie des Tre'pasess being at 
all times covered with wrecks and affording fine 
effects for a marine painter. 

But from Dinan a more history-loving traveller 
will take the diligence to the nearest station on 
the main railroad, and retrace the way as far as 
Lemans, diverging there southward to Tours and 
so follow for a time the Loire, along which so 
many kingly chateaur are found, either going via 
Bourges, Moulins, Lyons, and Geneva into Switzer- 
land, or taking Amboise, Chenonceaux, Blois, and 
Orleans on the return route for Paris. Tours has 



PARIS. 65 



a fine Gothic cathedral, with a strikingly rich orna- 
mental facade dating from the fifteenth century, 
beside some stained glass that will arrest the vis- 
itor for a long morning before going on to Amboise, 
where the castle, conspicuous on the great cliff, 
was long the residence of the French kings. One 
can mount from below to the summit of this height 
by following a broad, winding passage— up which 
carriages were wont to drive, the ascent is made so 
gradually — within the tower. 

From these walls were hung the bodies of the 
Huguenots slaughtered by the Due de Guise, and 
from the balcony Catherine de Medicis and Mary 
Queen of Scots" watched the execution of still more 
of these victims. 

The little chapel in the garden has a most beau- 
tiful carving over its doorway of St. Hubert and 
the stag with the cross between its horns, and the 
groined roof and frieze of stonework is of the most 
delicate sculpture. The building in the form of a 
cross was erected for Anne of Brittany, and re- 
stored by Louis Philippe. It is said, too, that 
Leonardo da Vinci spent the last years of his life 
at Amboise in the Chateau de Cloux. 

The drive from the Lion d'Or to Chenonceaux 
is most delightful, lying through the forest and 
5 



66 STUDYING ART ABRO.IP. 

crossing the moat to the picturesque chateau built 
by Francis I. directly over the river Cher. The 
old furniture, armor, and enamels have been pre- 
served, and make the interior, with its tapestry and 
picture-gallery of historical portraits, seem very 
home-like. Among the latter is one of Diane de 
Poitiers in the very abbreviated costume of the 
goddess for whom she was named ; also one of 
Agnes Sorel and Rabelais ; and in the apartments 
of the present occupant (which are occasionally 
obligingly shown a visitor) are two magnificent 
Troyons, such as one seldom meets with even in 
large collections. 

The chateau has known many royal inhabitants, 
having been given by Henri II. to Diane de Poi- 
tiers and used by him as a retreat when hunting. 
Then Catherine de Medicis took possession, and 
bequeathing it to the widow of Henri III., it de- 
scended to the Condes. In the time of Madame 
Dupin (George Sand's grandmother), Voltaire and 
Rousseau visited it, and the latter's opera, " Le 
Divin du Village," was performed in the little 
theatre adjoining, so the loquacious guide informs 
the visitor. 

Still more royal history meets one at Blois, and 
seems brought very near in certain rooms of the 



PARIS. 6j 



castle where so many momentous events took place. 
For the winding staircase, very richly decorated 
with the salamanders of Francis I., leads to the 
apartment where Henri III. distributed the daggers, 
and beyond, to the very cabinet where Henri le 
Balafre, just as he was pushing aside the portiere, 
was attacked and pierced by many blades. The 
valet de place points to the very spot where, as the 
body laid, the royal murderer spurned it with his 
foot, saying, " Je ne le croyais pas aussi grand." 

The observatory of Catherine de Medicis, with 
its inscription, " Uraniae Sacrum," is shown, as 
also the window from which Queen Marie de 
Medicis escaped when banished here by Louis 
XIII. 

Besides the fine staircases and sculpture of the 
castle, Blois is in itself interesting and picturesque, 
with numerous streets of steps and old houses of 
the domestic architecture of the sixteenth century, 
which to do full justice to on paper or canvas, 
would employ a painter for some length of time. 

Orleans has little of interest to offer beside the 
relics of the famous Maid, whose equestrian statue, 
with base of bass-reliefs, is the best among the many 
of her in France. Also, her portrait at the mairie, 
and house of carved wood, are generally considered 



68 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

objects to be visited, as well as the site of the old 
bridge and the fort of " Les Tourelles," which was 
the scene, it will be remembered, of her most 
brilliant exploit. 

This city would be the end of the little tour 
which I have tried, in a general way, to suggest, 
as preferable for any artist wanting to secure a 
rich historical background for pictures, while mak- 
ing Dinan, or St. Malo perhaps, the final destina- 
tion for living cheaply in the most attractive part 
of Brittany. 



MODES AND MAGASINS. 

Even supposing our lady-artist has been strong- 
minded enough to leave London without buying 
new clothes, she will certainly find it quite impossi- 
ble to say good by to Paris without at least one new 
costume, fresh from the hand of some stylish coutu- 
rier e } and by buying the materials of silk or woolen, 
say for a spring suit, a little late in the season, at 
one of the annual sales in the large shops, when 
coupons of such, together with trimmings of all 
descriptions, are nearly given away, a comparatively 
small sum will cover this first outlay. 

Then Madame Thierry, for instance (whose name 



PARIS. 69 



is in the annexed list), possessing taste and fitting 
well, will for forty or fifty francs, linings, etc., in- 
cluded, make an entirely satisfactory suit. 

So that as a whole, if accomplished in the right 
way, this addition to a lady's wardrobe can hardly 
be looked upon as an extravagance. 

At the same time ready-made costumes are all 
reduced in price, and the " Petit St. Thomas " gen- 
erally exhibits particularly pretty ones, at much 
less cost than the same at the well-known " Bon 
Marche." As regards the latter magasin, there is a 
very mistaken notion of its being cheap, for with the 
exception of gloves, ornaments, and little articles, 
everything is notably costlier than at the Louvre, 
Printemps, Tapis Rouge, and smaller shops. The 
dressmaking department is expensive and not par- 
ticularly commendable, but being especially patron- 
ized by Americans, prices are high accordingly. 

Sacques and paletots are offered too, in return 
for little money, though for anything of this de~ 
scription in furs, London is preferable. English 
ladies affirm that mourning and all black stuffs also 
show a great difference in expense, believing them 
to be much cheaper in their own capital. 

A good Bonnet (and that made by the rival house 
of Jaubert, Andras et Cie.) black silk, of soft, rich 



STUDYING ART ABROAD. 



quality, costs in Paris about eight francs a metre, of 
sixty centimetres width, and a firm at 79 Boulevard 
St. Michel advertise the making- up of mourning 
and all black material as a specialty at low rates. 

Boots of a comfortable make and durable quality 
seem about the only necessary articles of wear that 
are not to be found ready made in France. For 
though the shop-windows are full of enchanting 
boots, shoes, and slippers of every shape and kind' 
unless a woman wants to deform her feet by mount- 
ing on immensely high heels (which immediately 
proceed to tread over), there is nothing desirable 
provided between these and sabots, although at 
No. 61 Rue Mt. Orgueil, those for fourteen francs, 
with or without Louis Quinze heels, will prove quite 
good for service ; or at a little shop No. 7 Rue 
Notre Dame de Lorette, a more sensible article, 
with cloth or leather tops, costs eighteen francs. 
But a well-made pair of London guinea boots will 
wear out three pair of Paris make ; so the conclu- 
sion is that for everything substantial, from na- 
tional characteristics to matches and pins, one must 
go to England and the English. 

Hotel Druot is worthy one visit at least, as the 
private collections of pictures sent there for sale 
contain sometimes valuable ones seen nowhere 



PARIS-. 71 



else, and if, as I have before mentioned, an artist 
is about furnishing apartment or studio, it is sur- 
prising what pretty modern or antique articles can 
be bought for little money. 

A very effective set, of richly carved black wal- 
nut with velvet covering, I once saw and admired 
in an atelier, cost but 200 francs, or $40, at Hotel 
Druot. 

There also is a marcJie known as the " Temple," 
frequented by artists for the purchase of tapestry, 
portieres, and rich stuffs of various kinds, found at 
low prices in the little stalls principally kept by 
Jews, — though no one, under any consideration, 
is ever made to confess being a patron of this 
bazaar, as it is not at all comme il fant to be seen 
there, and a purchaser is occasionally haunted by 
the unpleasant idea that perhaps the seeds of 
the plague or small-pox lie hidden in the folds of 
the gorgeous material just bought. The perfectly 
business-like manner, too, of the saleswomen, in 
some of the booths, who accept five francs for a 
bonnet, where at least twenty francs was demanded 
in the outset, is entertaining, though before mak- 
ing this amiable concession, the aforesaid may have 
looked a lady in the eye, asking calmly, " Etes-vous 
folle ? " 



72 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

It is quite the same kind of bargaining, if not a 
little worse, at the Italics, where one goes for fresh 
flowers, or any delicacy too expensive elsewhere, 
and if, on objecting to a price, one turns to pass on, 
all kinds of offers and unflattering remarks are 
hurled after the retreating purchaser until out of 
sight. 

The only way to successfully cope with such 
people is to marcJiander, in a pleasant manner, and 
receive all their impertinence with perfect good 
temper, which converts them into firm friends, 
ready to serve reasonably and respectfully ever 
afterward. 

As to colors and art materials, those students 
who prefer to use the best, buy the Edouard and 
Belgic tubes, taking them from larger picture 
dealers. But a beginner, using oil colors in quan- 
tities for daily studies merely, will find the quality 
of such sufficiently good, and everything of that 
nature very inexpensive, at No. 4 Quai des Orfevres. 
Also all sized paint-brushes at wholesale rates, by 
going to Petit Aine, 24 Faubourg St. Denis, where 
a dozen cost but one franc fifty centimes. 

Oil colors, as a rule, are cheaper in Paris than in 
London ; the bitumen is better, and imported to 
some extent from the latter city, by those who do 



PARIS. 71 



not believe, with several of the French masters, 
that it is dangerous for use, and a color which will 
never dry, the " Shipwreck," by Gericault, in the 
Louvre, being cited as proof this. In a few classes 
it is strictly forbidden to pupils, " Brun de Bru- 
xelles" replacing it in the color-box of the mer- 
chant who appears at stated intervals at the studio 
door. 

Jules Lutteus, 12 Avenue des Tilleuls, Mont- 
martre, is a handsome model, who supplies painters 
with large palettes, mahogany panels, and such 
articles, at small cost. Also on the other side of 
the Seine (which is generally considered the 
cheaper quarter for everything), an ebmisle, at 83 
Rue des St. Peres, executes all commissions neatly 
and at reasonable prices. And lastly, if an artist 
is not fluent in the French language, and wants a 
teacher (though at many pensions the host or 
hostess includes one or two lessons each week in 
the cost of board), Mile. Robert, 33 Rue de Clichy, 
can be warmly recommended, as very thorough, 
and far from exorbitant in her terms. 

In one and all of the above notes, it must be 
remembered that cheapness has been the main 
object, as no visitor can deny that Paris shops are 
the most brilliantly attractive in the world, offering 



74 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

all, from distracting bonnets and flowers, to the 
dazzling display of diamonds seen in the Rue de 
la Paix or the Palais Royal, that the feminine 
heart can desire. But such can only be patronized 
by the rich, and our particular American student 
is wanting to economize, in order that the often- 
counted pile of golden louis may not diminish too 
rapidly before a thorough art education is com- 
pleted. Moreover, this foreign life, even under the 
most humble conditions, is full of keen delight to 
every lover of the beautiful, seeing only the pic- 
turesque side of things, and enjoying the little 
makeshifts I have hinted at as suited to the sur- 
roundings, and possible only on the European side 
of the Atlantic. 



MAITRES DE DESSIN ET DE PEINTURE. 

M. Bonnat, 6 Place Vintimille. (With but one exception receives 

only male pupils.) 
M. Bouguereatj, 75 Rue Notre Dame des Champs. 
M. CABANEL, S Rue de Vigny (Pare Monceau). 
M. Duran, 11 Passage Stanislas 
M. Suminais, 26 Rue de Laval (Avenue Frochot). 
M. Lefebvre, 5 Rue de la Bruyere. 
M. Fantin-la-Jour, 8 Rue des Beaux Arts. 
M. Krug, 11 Boulevard de Clichy. 
M. Jackson, Rue des Beaux Arts. 
M. Jullien, Passage Panorama. 



Paris. 75 



M. Barrias, 40 Rue Fortuny. 

M. Jacque, 1 1 Boulevard cle Clichy. 

'PENSIONS. 

Mme. Thierry, 44 Rue de Clichy. (Good room and table, 6 
francs per day.% 

Miss Cooke, 9 Avenue de Trocadero. (Moderate prices and much 
frequented by English and Americans.) 

Mme. Penson, 3 Rue de Boulogne. (Neat, and reasonable in 
price.) 

Mile. Gravier, 127 Faubourg St. Honore. 

Mesdames Gautier et Dalamt, 6 Rue Castiglione. 

Miss Ellis, 2S Rue Bassano, and Miss Roberts, also Champs 
Elysees. (Both expensive, but exceedingly comfortable.) 

Mrs. Wooley, 7 Rue Calysee. (55 francs per week.) 

Mme. Beim, j6 Rue Bonaparte. (8 francs per day.) 

No. 67 Avenue de l'Alma. (Rather expensive but comfortable, 
and French lessons included in board.) 

61 Avenue Friedland, Champs Elysees, and 72 Boulevard St. Ger- 
main. (Both comfortable, and not expensive.) 

2 Rue Larribe, au coin de la Rue Constantinople. 

HOTELS. 

Hotel du Palais, 28 Cours la Reine. (Good room and table, 8 
francs per day.) 

Les Trois Princes, Rue Ncuve des Petils Champs. (Small pri- 
vate hotel, central and well kept. 

Small hotels, with cheap rooms, Rue de Douai. 

M. CHLVIL! on fils, Grez, pres Nemours, Seine et Name. (6 francs 
per day ) 

DINAN. 

Hotel du Commerce. (Clean and comfortable.) 

Mrs. HOBBE's pension. (35 francs per week.) 

Mile. Coste's pension, Place St. Louis. (Comfortable and cheap.) 



STUDYING ART ABROAD. 



COUTURIERES. 

Mme. Levilon, 14 Rue de Rome. (Satisfactory but expensive.) 

Mme. Emanuel, 19 Avenue Martignon. "(Fashionable and rather 
dear.) 

Mme. FEMARY, 42 Rue Boursault. (Price 60 f/ancs ; dress mate- 
rials included.) 

Mme. Thierry, 6 Rue Joubert. ' (Stylish, and moderate in price.) 

Mme. Duvanson, 16 Rue des Martyrs. 

Mile. Sherrronkee, 45 Rue Abbatucci. (Recommended as excel- 
lent and cheap.) 

Mile. Ferret, 14 Boulevard St. Jacques. (Seamstress only.) 

MAGASINS. 

Petit St. Thomas, Rue du Bac. (Good for ready-made costumes.) 

Bon Marcher au coin de la Rue du Bac et Rue de Sevres. 

Tapis Rouge, 67 Rue du Faubourg-St.-Martin. 

Printemps, Boulevard Haussman. 

Hotel Drouot, Rue Drouot. 

Ti mple, Rue du Temple. 

A. Cholet et Cie., 9 Rue de la Chaussee d'Antin. (For Edouard 

and Belgic colors.) 
Vieille, 35 Rue de Laval. (For reliable colors.) 
Ponnel, 4 Quai des Orfevres. (For cheap colors and materials ) 
Jules Luttens, 12 Avenue des Tilleuls, Montmartre. (For panels 

and palettes.) 



ROME. 77 



CHAPTER V. 

ROME. 

Rome, in my estimation, is the place for a student 
of sculpture rather than of painting ; and as to 
what art advantages it offers at the present time, 
I can give but little information, having studied 
there for one winter only, some years ago. 

True it is, however, that the happy graduate of 
l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, whose trial sketch receives 
the Prix de Rome, finds in the solemn atmosphere 
of the old city sufficient inspiration to accomplish 
the great picture that, later exposed in Paris, 
makes his reputation, and perhaps adds his name 
to the already long list of French masters. 

But the thorough familiarity with Roman his- 
tory which is always required of a Beaux-Arts 
student accounts for this choice of locality, as 
well, perhaps, as for the many Neros, Caligulas, 
and togaed senators who annually make their 
appearance on canvas of immense proportions. 



7<S STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

Monsieur Hebert was a recognized critic in 
Rome for some time, and Monsieur Bellay much 
liked as a teacher in water-color heads ; also Mr. 
Crowninshield, from Boston, opened his studio to a 
class of ladies in sketching from nature. 

A few of the Italian painters received female 
pupils, wishing to work from the draped living 
models, mostly in water-colors also, they them- 
selves forming an evening class, which met in a 
large, dusty room, off a little street just behind 
the Via Babuino. 

They were a lively set, smoking or singing as 
they painted, in a bold, clashing style, from the 
pretty or interesting model posed under the brill- 
iant reflectors of the raised platform. And even 
in this artificial light their touch was certain and 
effective, so much so that it would have been 
instructive to watch them work, if the smoke of 
numerous cigarettes and increased confusion, as it 
grew late, had not prevented this, as well as the 
possibility of painting with any comfort one's self. 

Beside, any lady, seeking instruction here, even 
seated modestly behind the principal group, might, 
if perfectly familiar with the Italian tongue, occa- 
sionally find the conversation of the students be- 
coming slightly embarrassing, when they freely 



ROME. 79 



discussed not only her ability with color, but her 
personal appearance and manners. 

Also, as the lesson began late, it was apt to keep 
one at work too far into the night, making an 
escort home through the deserted streets each 
evening a matter of absolute necessity. For 
Rome, even since Victor Emmanuel has made 
so many improvements, is not comparatively safe, 
like Paris or London, where a lady can traverse 
the streets at almost any hour without fear. 

It is often a disappointment to art students to 
find it impossible to copy in the great galleries 
during cold weather, there being nothing but a 
scaldino of the smallest dimensions provided as a 
heating apparatus, which in no way affects the 
atmosphere of the stone-floored rooms or keeps off 
the rheumatism, that enemy of a persistent copy- 
ist in Italy. 

So one must believe, as consolation and accord- 
ing to the critics, that the gems of the Borghese, 
like the Cenci of the Barberini, are such works of 
pure inspiration that a satisfactory reproduction of 
them is impossible, and that Guido himself might 
have failed in a second attempt to portray the tear- 
ful face that so universally interests and absorbs. 

The Pitti, Uffizzi, and Accademia -delle Belle 



80 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

Arti of Florence are much more hospitable toward 
a student, though, if desirous of copying the very 
popular Fra Angelico Madonna, or angels sur- 
rounding it, one may have to wait months, even 
years, for the opportunity, the list cf applicants' 
names always being full, and each obliged to follow 
in turn. 

But few people, particularly artists, will care to 
frequent galleries when surrounding nature is so 
wonderfully beautiful, and rich-skinned, large-eyed 
models sit patiently on the long Spanish -steps, or 
round the fountains, awaiting the Bonnat or Bou- 
gereau who is to immortalize them in color. 

Certainly none of the profession understand the 
real art of posing like the Romans and Neapoli- 
tans, who make it a regular business, beginning 
from the cradle and training their children and 
children's children in the most perfect manner. 
So that, hackneyed as the type has become, it must 
also be the chosen one. 

Nor is their faithfulness to be forgotten, as that 
of the beautiful Vincenza, who, after sitting like a 
statue for hours to a class of ladies, fell fainting 
from sheer fatigue, yet insisted on finishing the 
seance even to a minute, though money was not 
an object, full compensation and cab-fare being 



ROME. 8 1 



pressed upon her as inducement to go home and 
rest. 

There is much pleasure, too, as one passes in 
hearing the- " Buon giorno, Signorina," spoken in 
soft tones, accompanied by words and smiles from 
such belles of the Trastevere, for it makes a 
foreigner feel more one of them and thank a kind 
fate for drifting one thither, even for a short time, 
to live among them. 

Doubtless a student will do much sketching in 
the Borghese Gardens and the grounds of the 
numerous villas, or, driving beyond the city gates, 
see pictures enough to occupy one for a lifetime. 

Particularly on a day appointed for the hunt, 
when a gay group of equestrians circle about the 
master, whose scarlet coat makes him a mark for 
all eyes, and the hounds are hardly to be con- 
trolled in their eagerness for the first scent of 
game, while amid fashionable Rome, crowding every 
avenue, the American sculptor and horsewoman, 
on her three-hundred-guinea hunter, presses for- 
ward to participate in this exciting scene of the 
meet. Or later, when the scattered parties turn 
homeward, riding recklessly over the treacherous 
ground, through the poisonous purple glow of the 
incomparable Campagna, that lights up even the 
6 



$2 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

distant, white-capped mountains, it is something 
for a colorist to see. 

Guide-books describe Rome so in detail, as well 
as the many summer resorts among the mountains, 
that I will merely add of the latter, Albano is not 
only high, healthy, and picturesque, but moderate 
in expense and is occasionally enlivened by a party 
of Roman painters in various costumes, who drive 
to this height for enacting a small carnival. 
Models, too, are not only cheap, but there are the 
veritable shepherds, in the clothes so often adopted 
by atelier professionals, and seen in pictures, which 
counts as an advantage ; for in Italy, as in France, 
a stranger must seek the national dress only in 
very out-of-the-way places, to find it at all gener- 
ally worn. 

The rough-looking mountaineers make grand 
subjects to exercise an artist's skill and talent upon ; 
and the women, though not handsome, have fine, 
pronounced features, and" heads that, with their 
braids of blueblack hair, studded with golden orna- 
ments, make strikingly interesting etudes. 

At rare intervals one encounters " l'homme a la 
musette," in face and figure so like Couture's pic- 
ture — exposed since the painter's death in the Sa- 
lon by the owner, Monsieur Barbedienne — that it 



ROME. 83 



must be supposed all of these musicians belong to 
one family. 

Banditti are still said to hide in mountainous 
regions, but if a student has sufficient courage to 
risk an encounter with such an unfriendly troupe 
and go to Roma Vecchia to dig for undiscovered 
treasures, perhaps a fine piece of sculpture or 
antique jug may turn up under the shovel to 
reward one's exertions and add to the properties of 
the studio. 

All such things double in value when once on 
the American side of the water, and nowhere are 
hanging lamps, bronze tripods, and all such orna- 
ments cheaper than in Italy. 

The advice cannot be too often repeated to trav- 
ellers intending wintering in Rome, that plenty of 
flannels and warm clothing are as much a neces- 
sity there as anywhere, for roses do not bloom on 
the Pincio all the year round, nor does the sun shine 
"all day and all night too," as a beguiling padrone 
was heard to assure some Americans, on showing 
her rooms to them. The want of prudence among 
foreigners in a great measure accounts for the sick- 
ness and mortality so common at certain seasons 
in their midst. 

The going from hot outside air and sunny side- 



84 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

walks into damp churches, to sit through a long 
service, perhaps without the addition of an extra 
wrap ; or to see the Coliseum by moonlight, at an 
hour when almost every breath is a deadly malaria; 
or still worse, driving from picture-gallery to ruin, 
from villa to catacombs, or joining the Archaeological 
Society, intent on exploring some old cistern or 
sewer in a mouldy corner of the Palace of the 
Caesars or Baths of Caracalla, only to end the 
fatiguing day dressed in gauzy attire for dancing at 
some German until morning. These are the things 
that develop Roman fever, oftener than do dark 
apartments, Campagna air, or the much-talked-of 
bad drainage, which frightens so many new-comers 
to crowd one particular quarter, and prevents the 
enjoyment of much that is beautiful. 

Concerning cost of living in Rome, it cannot be 
called cheap, though taking an apartment, in pref- 
erence to hotels and pensions, is as much more 
so there as in Paris or London. 

But the Italians do not always prove an agreeable 
nation to have any large money dealings with, and 
to find an honest, honorable padrone with whom 
to sign a contract, is an important affair. In this 
respect, No. 2 Piazza Barberini can be highly rec- 
ommended to a small party, and the square itself, 



ROME. 85 



though not so fashionable as Piazza di Spagna, Via 
Felici, or Sistine, is bright and cheerful, with the 
fountain of the " Tritone " for an attractive object 
to see from one's windows. 

The Hotel Costanza, Via Nicolo di Tolentino, 
and the pensions of Mme. Telenbach, and the 
Misses Smith, in Piazza di Spagna, would make 
a pleasant home, particularly for a lady travelling 
alone, the price at the last-named being twelve to 
fifteen, lire per day. 

Florence is better for shopping, in general, than 
Rome, where at one time Massoni's on the Corso 
was nearly the only reliable dry-goods and dress- 
making establishment in the city. Also to a 
walker a supply of comfortable boots is even a 
greater luxury than in France, as many of the 
narrow, stony streets are without sidewalks and 
make anything but agreeable footing. 

An artistic souvenir of Rome is made by buying 
a copy of the " Marble Faun " or " Roba di Roma " 
in the Tauchnitz edition, and inserting the vignette 
photographs of the places described mounted on 
fresh pages, binding the whole in the lovely Roman 
vellum, which has the advantage when soiled of 
being easily made white and spotless again by 
washing with soap and water. At one time the 



86 STUDYING ART ABROAD. 

arrangement of these albums was so much the 
fashionable amusement among foreigners who could 
neither sketch nor paint such charming bits of 
antiquity as the Temple of Vesta, Hilda's Tower, 
or the Ghetto 'bazaars, that complete sets of the 
photographs, arranged in regular order, could always 
be had in the print and book shops. 

In ending as in the beginning this paper on 
Rome, I can but express the conviction that to a 
sculptor it has everything to offer.* From the 
Vatican, Capitol, New Museum, Ludovisi, and so 
many other collections to even the street-fountains, 
and the strong conceptions of the modern Monte- 
verdi, all are for the worker in clay, while the 
painter will find the cities on the other side of 
the Alps offer infinitely greater advantages for 
art study in color. Although the latter can but 
see with deep regret the last days of a Roman visit 
draw toward a close ; for not only is the landscape 
exquisite, but the hour's spent in the quiet studio, 
absorbed in the beauty of head or ensemble before 



* Several Italian painters, now receiving honors in Paris, are 
graduates of the school at Naples, which, according to the opinion 
of the very few Americans who have studied there, offers the best 
course of instruction, both in sculpture and painting, of any city in 
Italv. 



ROME. S7 



one, are most precious, or when the critic takes 
palette and brushes for making with one stroke the 
weak line strong, it is a lesson indeed ; and this life 
in Italy becomes worth making a struggle for, and 
forms an episode seldom anything but profitable or 
delightful to recall 

So let painter and sculptor touch glasses at trie 
Fountain of Trevi as they drink to their certain 
return to Rome ! 



THE END. 



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{Dedication.) 

TO THE SCHOLARS OF THE HIGH AND NORMAL SCHOOL. 

Tor you this sketch was written: permit me to dedicate it to you; in fact, 
to intrust it to your care. Pupils to-day, to-morrow you will be teachers : to- 
morrow, generation after generation of youth will pass through your guardian 
hands. An idea received by you must of necessity reach thousands of minds. 
Help me, then, to spread abroad the work in which you have some share, and 
allow me to add to the great pleasure of having numbered you among my he;urers 
the still greater happiness of calling you my assistants. E. Legouve'. 

We commend this valuable little book to the attention of teachers and others 
interested in the instruction of the pupils of our public schools. It treats of the 
" First Steps" ir. reading, "Learning to Read," " Should we read as we talk," 
" The Use and Management of the Voice," " The Art of Breathing," " Pronuncia- 
tion," "Stuttering," "Punctuation," " Readers and Speakers, " Reading as a 
Means of Criticism," "On Reading Poetry," &c, and makes a strong claim as 
to the value of_reading aloud, as being the most wholesome of gymnastics, for to 
jtharvthMtoice is tc strengthen the whole system and develop vocal power. 



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Sold by all Booksellers. Mailed, post-paid, by the Pub- 
lishers, 

ROBERTS BROTHERS, Boston. 



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